Transcript Living Leadership Developing the leader within you George Binney

Living Leadership
Developing the leader within you
George Binney
You as a leader – tell the story of when
you have led well
• Who was involved and what
happened?
• What did you do and how did you
behave – that caused others to
follow you?
Our method – Action Research
• Coming alongside leaders and
their teams over 12 to 24 months
• Observing people in action
• Reflecting together on what’s
happening
What we found
Heroic Leadership
‘The lengthened shadow of one
great person’
- Warren Bennis
-exists as aspiration, not reality
What we found
There is no recipe
• What is effective leading? - It
depends!
• Leaders have to be highly
adaptable
• Many people, at many levels, lead
at different moments
Living Leadership
1. Leading happens between people in
the moment
• Leadership is not just about what a
leader does or how he/she is
• The followers choose who to give
authority to
• It is a two-way process
Living Leadership
2. Context, context, context
• Leading is shaped by context
• Effective leaders see potential in the
context, however difficult
• The art of the possible
Living leadership
3. People lead well when they bring
themselves – with skill – to their leading
• It is not about being perfect
• What makes you a good leader
are your imperfections
• You are on a stage
• Bringing yourself with skill takes
years of practice – and a
willingness to keep learning
Living Leadership:
A different idea of leading
FROM:
TO: Someone who
The leader as
transforming hero
 Adapts to different situations
 Embodies values and goals
that followers attach to
 Demonstrates character (not
charisma)
 Copes with uncertainty,
contradictions, mess and
helps people to stop and
think
 Enables others to achieve
results
What you can do as a leader
• Get real
• Get connected
• Get help
Living leadership
Common challenges for doctors
• Taking responsibility for the
organisation as a whole
• Lack of emotional intelligence
• Failing to act on judgement
• Battling not collaborating
(sometimes) power without responsibility
Living Leadership
How do you develop it?
• You can’t download leadership
• Development requires personal
discovery
• People develop as they lead on
critical tasks and reflect on their
experience
Living Leadership
How do you develop it?
• Individual support and validation
• Helping connect about what matters
• Helping people join up their
experience
A different relationship: not participant and tutor
but consultant and client learning together
Conclusion
Be the leader you can be
And don’t try to be the leader you
think you ought to be
What we found
The critical importance of self
preservation
• You need all your faculties to work
out what’s needed
• You can’t “bring yourself with skill” if
you are stressed and tired
• Nor if you are doing what is against
your values